Samant Goel is new RAW Chief, Arvind Kumar appointed IB head

Agencies

New Delhi: The central government on Wednesday appointed Arvind Kumar, a 1984 batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, as the new director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), while Samant Goel of the Punjab cadre was appointed chief of India’s external spy agency, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

Kumar is considered an expert on Kashmir, with specialisation in counter-terrorism and is said have closely been involved in tackling Left-wing extremism at the IB. He also holds charge as the special director of Kashmir in the intelligence agency.

With the appointment of the chiefs of India’s two spy agencies, all eyes will now be on the appointment of India’s army chief with the retirement of incumbent General Bipin Rawat scheduled by the end of this year.